Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by repelsteeltje | Hacker News Reader

Full thread

repelsteeltje

Keep in mind that this is also the country that fined shops selling chewing gum up to S$2,000.

Incentives uses to nudge our behaviours... Why not — to the max.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_sales_ban_in_Singa...

View on HN

I like this, particularly their rules against cigarette smoking, that ruins my day and air outside

I wish I could ban weed smoke smell in NYC. One person smoking makes a 30 foot diameter smell like skunk. Just use edibles and/or vapes people!

Right? I always feel worried about getting a contact high through the second hand smoke too.

That is very unlikely to ever happen in all but the most enclosed situations, by the way.

Back in my day we used to hotbox on purpose lol. 6 people all crowded into a small bathroom, towel under the door

> One person smoking makes a 30 foot diameter smell like skunk.

Even better, a couple of idiots in a car smoking with their windows rolled down.

I'm all for banning smoking cigarettes or weed in public spaces. If you want to ruin your health, do it in the privacy of your own house.

Even in your house, so many apartments have shit ventilation. Weed smell goes into windows, hallways, etc.

Weed smokers ruins it as much or more?

I was in Singapore some years ago with a smoker, and discovered that there were indeed smoking areas (at least near many bars) but they were so few and small that they would always be full of smokers, the ashtrays would be overflowing, etc.

Made me wonder whether part of the government plan was "yes, if you must, but you will not enjoy it."

To be fair, it does work if you value security above both freedom and creativity. Singapore is one of the safest if not the safest city on earth when it comes to crime

This is also the place that famously canes people for petty crimes.

And a death penalty for smuggling drugs.

EDIT: It seems that Singapore is more authorian than I thought (based on the Human Rights Wikipedia article). People would be complaining more about that were it not for the fact that it is a market-based economy.

Look at what drugs can do to a place (SF) - if it works maybe it's worth it?

They also have a well regarded healthcare system.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Singapore

Makes me love Singapore the more. Very pragmatic leadership. Can't be characterized as "right-leaning" or "left-leaning" or whatever...it's like the leaders just sat down and thought, "Let us borrow any idea that works and implement in our country"...grew from third-world levels of poverty to enviable first-world development in a few decades.

I'm not Singaporean and have never visited if you're wondering...

Not just enviable, they have the worlds highest GDP per capita, the only Asian country with a triple AAA rating by all ratings bodies, good integration policies (low crime but basically a 20/20/20/20 split between Buddhism, Atheism, Christianity, and Islam - not completely 20:20:20:20 but can't remember the right numbers and it's close-ish), one of the highest life expectancies in the world, and pretty awesome food!

It's almost like cracking down on crime in a tough way with liberal economics can lead to a great place to live.

User Joak lived there and has posted here - it’s an interesting take.

The oppressive state behaviour has repercussions in their view.

Privileged migrants (I mean expats) might not be terribly affected by how unfree or authoritarian a society is.

> As an expat, the censorship and oppression was only materialized by the absence of a decent art scene.

Even if Singapore is authoritarian and unfree, if they have high happiness scores, high life expectancies, high standards of living, maybe we have to accept you can have some good authoritarian places to live.

If you'll read my comments again you'll see that I haven't taken a stance on this myself one way or the other.

Fair point!

I lived in Singapore 3 years, quite a pleasant city. Super efficient, clean, people polite and smiling. As an expat, the censorship and oppression was only materialized by the absence of a decent art scene. Music, theatre, movies, graphic arts, ... are nowhere to be seen or very mediocre in a city this size. Oh yes, and sure no drugs beyond alcohol.

The expensive car policy is well counterbalanced by good public transportation and cheap fast taxis (no congestion). More convenient than owning a car, imo.

> Can't be characterized as "right-leaning" or "left-leaning" or whatever.

Singapore's story is remarkable, like you said. But it can absolutely be characterized as right-leaning, with a conservative social policy marked by low individual freedom (low tolerance for antisocial behavior, definition of "antisocial" largely in the hands of the government) and high economic freedom (laissez-faire free market capitalism, small government[0]). On the Nolan chart[1], it would fall squarely in the Conservative side.

[0]: At government expenditures of ~15% of GDP, Singapore has by far the smallest government, in economic terms, of all developed countries.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Chart

> what drugs can do to a place (SF)

I miss raves and house parties in 90's San Francisco.

At least the Tenderloin has a 24/7 block party! /s

On the bright side, the LGBT community got some rights this year.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Singapore

When I see how people behave recklessly in some places, I'll be low-key wishing for this kind of law.

Crimes for which judicial caning applies seem like fairly serious ones to me: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore

One of most famous cases was a dipshit American with a spray can, so you and I are going to have disagree about the definition of “serious” crimes. Especially when the entire impetus of the vandalism law to stop graffiti protesting the ruling party in 1966. (Previously, vandalism was punished by a small fine, rather than caning.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Michael_Fay

Vandalism is a felony in my state (Massachusetts). That seems to define it as being a serious crime here.

I wonder how many people have been actually convicted of vandalism in Massachusetts?

Looks like tens of thousands of occurrences per year and thousands "cleared" (unclear how close to 'convicted' that is, nor on whether all 'criminal damage' is vandalism).

https://ma.beyond2020.com/ma_tops/report/crime-overview/mass...

How many people have been caned for vandalism in Singapore?

I'd wager that far, far more people have a felony vandalism conviction in MA than were caned for it in Singapore.

I'm sorry, but this link doesn't back up what you're saying at all. It doesn't list felony vandalism at all, just "criminal damage". It doesn't even give a break down between felonies and misdemeanors.

I'm old enough to recognize when someone did a quick google search in an attempt to win argument on the internet, but this doesn't back up your argument at all. Especially with your final line, which is just made up of a whole cloth to justify beating someone.

Troll harder.

Forget a few grams of bud in your suitcase while transiting through Singapore? Just get a handed a death sentence as a foreign national, hope you enjoy your holiday execution.

Everybody knows the laws, why would you insist on breaking them?

What makes you think I insist on breaking Singaporean laws?

Maybe not you specifically, but why would anyone bring drugs in their luggage on a transit flight through Singapore. Why would someone not have a basic understanding of breaking the law in the countries they travel to/thru?

A lot of people, especially many who use marijuana, are quite disorganized and forget about all sorts of random items in backpacks, suitcases, etc. between trips. So it’s a very real possibility

Where is it legal to bring weed across country or even state lines? There's no way to "forget" to remove something from your luggage that's universally illegal, unless you've choosen to flout the law because it's easy to get away with elsewhere.

You’ve never left something in a pocket before, or dropped something into an open suitcase without noticing it?

Maybe coins or random pocket trash, but never illegal drugs. I think I would notice 500 grams of weed, which is the minimum to receive the death penalty in Singapore.

Half a kilo isn't easy to overlook, I'll give you that.

When I count all my pieces of clothing damaged by chewing gums, recall the felling of disgust when accidentally touching a chewing gum attached under a seat or table, see the awful black stains created by trampled chewing gums... yes, this industry deserves it.

I always throw chewing gum in the bin. But I guess if only one in a thousand does not do that then you can end up with gum all over the asphalt (in a city state).

Having spent my entire life where chewing gum is legal, I find this attitude absurd.

What are we going to do next, ban farting?

Once farting will become billions dollar industry with fat executive boards, with stars and celebrities advertising farting as a way of living, and farting casually introduced in mainstream movies. Then some farting restrictions might be really necessary.

> farting casually introduced in mainstream movies

That could actually be pretty funny.

Do you know https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/ ?

I was told by someone who lived in Singapore it was because people put the chewing gum on the lasers that counted passengers on the transit system. It was an expensive system.

Chewing gums were probably put on many places and things, and their removal was nasty and expensive.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com